Minutes of HSA meeting

Monday, October 14, 2024

SHHS Library

6:30 pm

Attendees: 

Tina Zamulinsky, Co-Chair

Michael Gebhardt, Secretary

Andrea LaPira, Interim Principal

Megan McCullough, Director of Student Services -- Behavioral Health

Leslie Shaud, Supervisor of Counseling and Wellness -- Behavioral Health

Others, per sign-in sheet.

All About PAYS

After working through some technical hardware issues, Ms. McCullough opened the meeting and explained that she would be presenting information regarding the Pennsylvania Youth Survey, or "PAYS." The survey is a joint effort of the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, the PA Department of Education, and the PA Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs.

She stated that the survey is done every other year, originally only at the high school level, but some years ago was expanded to middle school and is in fact being piloted to be administered as early as fourth grade.

The purpose of the survey is to learn about students' experiences (behavior, attitudes, knowledge) with alcohol, drugs, and violence. Ms. McCullough stated that the survey is completely anonymous in order to encourage the most accurate responses and resulting data.

[More information about PAYS can be found here: https://www.pccd.pa.gov/Juvenile-Justice/Pages/Pennsylvania-Youth-Survey-(PAYS).aspx]

Ms. McCullough noted that there have been some minor changes to the questions in the survey over the years, such that longitudinal examination of the data is not perfectly apples to apples, but still valuable.

She noted that PAYS is wholly separate and distinct from the periodic Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) check-in, which is not confidential.

Ms. McCullough noted that PAYS addresses, among others, two primary needs for WSSD and other districts in Pennsylvania — (1) to identify trends and changes in patterns of alcohol or drug use; and (2) to assess risks and the efficacy of protective factors to help administrators and others design effective interventions.

Digging Into the Data

Ms. McCullough then presented a number of slides with select data from the 2023 PAYS comparing results for WSSD to the Commonwealth. (She noted that the survey is always conducted in odd-numbered years.)

[To view the slides, click here.]

[Note to Readers: As the presentation was very dense with information, and the complete slides are available for review, the following is a selection of notes rather than a complete recitation.]

Drug and Alcohol Use

• The rate of marijuana usage is relatively low at 10.3%, but users tend to be steady, repeat users
• The most misused drugs are over-the-counter items found in the home, and the second-most is prescription pain medications found in the home
• 0.8% of 12th graders report drinking and driving

Mental Health

• WSSD students report lower incidence of depression than the Commonwealth, and down significantly from 2021
• Reported suicidal ideation is higher than the Commonwealth, but also down by almost half since 2021
• Reported suicide attempts are down from an extraordinarily high level in 2021

Ms. LaPira noted that the community was reeling for some time from the loss of a student in 2019.

Climate and Safety

• WSSD students report feeling safe at school at a higher rate than the Commonwealth
• WSSD students report a high level of opportunity to talk with teachers and others
• WSSD students report that their school work is meaningful at a higher rate than the Commonwealth

Ms. McCullough stated that PBIS strategies are showing results, as indicated by the percentage of students reporting praise from teachers at 58.5%, up from 48.4% in 2021. 

• WSSD students' report of having experienced violence on school property is slightly up from 2021
• WSSD students' report experiencing bullying at slightly higher rates in the past 12 months compared to 2021

Ms. McCullough commented on some of the indicators of risk revealed by the survey, including the death of a close friend, food insecurity, insufficient sleep or sleep hygiene. She noted that the stigma of visiting a food pantry results in low utilization, and that therefore finding ways to push resources into students' lunch accounts is more effective at addressing food needs.

Ms. LaPira showed attendees some vapes that have been confiscated, and discussed the various types, which are used for nicotine and/or THC. She noted that students found with THC products receive drug counseling. She re-iterated that her experience indicates a relatively low prevalence of use, but that those few are steady users.

Ms. McCullough noted that family attachment is the strongest protective factor and is higher in the most recent survey than in the prior three. WSSD data indicates that family opportunities for pro-social involvements is high, and school opportunities reported as somewhat lower.

Ms. McCullough then demonstrated the administrator access to the PAYS web site, which allows cutting the data in a number of ways and making comparisons. She noted that if any parent has questions or would like to see a particular view of the data, she would be happy to discuss and see if the web tool can produce the desired output.

Ms. McCullough noted that a comprehensive report of the survey outcomes for WSSD is available on the district's web site at this link:

https://www.wssd.org/site/handlers/filedownload.ashx?moduleinstanceid=2287&dataid=5594&FileName=2023%20Wallingford-Swarthmore%20School%20District%20Profile%20Report.pdf

The report includes a link to a public web tool for examining the data in greater detail.

A parent asked about the size of the counseling staff, and what is needed. Ms. McCullough described the resources presently maintained by WSSD. She noted that she regularly requests additional staff, as more would always be better. She noted in particular that it would be highly desirable to have more personnel devoted to career and college counseling, to take that burden off of the staff focused on behavioral health.

The meeting ended at 7:37 pm.